


Christmas With The Winchesters

by Jackshi



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Embarrassment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Abuse, Slow Build Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Snow, Snow Angels, Snowball Fight, Snowman, snow fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:32:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackshi/pseuds/Jackshi
Summary: Christmas is in only two days and Sam is determined it's going to be perfect. This year there would be no open road, no diner food, no hunts. Just him, his brother, their friends and this prick of an Archangel who insists on being included, all celebrating Christmas together in the bunker. Decorating, snowstorms, snowball fights, mistletoe and sexual tension so thick you could cut it with a knife... what could go wrong?This fic is mainly Sabriel and Destiel, with each having their own chapters and side plots.(This is not based off the latest seasons, characters I wanted for this story are alive and I don't mention when it is based)





	1. Decorating

**Author's Note:**

> Destiel and Sabriel will be explored in this story. The ship focus will change from chapter to chapter with both ships having a slight plot for this story!

(This fic isn’t to do with the current story line. Characters that have died in the show are present)

Christmas. For once the word rolled merrily off Sam’s tongue.

This year there would be no hunts, no cramped car, no cheap Christmas pie bought at a random truck stop and absolutely no stress.

This year Sam was spending Christmas at the bunker. After years of shoddy motels and roadtrips, Sam would finally get his shot at a proper, traditional Christmas.

He had it all planned. Sam and Charlie had already gone out and gotten a tree (Charlie had a good laugh when they struggled to find a tree taller than Sam). Sam, Kevin and Dean had done all the food shopping (Dean just came along to ensure that pie would be bought). Decorations had been magiced up by their residential angels (more on that later) and lastly all the presents for each other were ready to be put under the tree.

All that was left now was to decorate the tree and in a few days’ time when it was officially Christmas day, cook the feast.

Everyone was excited for Christmas. The last few months had been hard and honestly they all needed some festive cheer.

However, despite their “enthusiasm” Sam was still left to decorate the tree by himself. He had asked everyone in the bunker for help… well nearly everyone. Most were busy, some still had some last minute shopping to do, while others (Dean) were just too lazy. The only person Sam hadn’t asked was Gabriel.

Sam had been surprised (to say the least) when he had walked into the bunker a few months ago, to see Gabriel and Cas sitting in the kitchen having a chat in Enochian.

Sam had been greeted with “Hiya moose” before he even had time to wonder what the archangel was even doing alive. After that Gabriel had been “popping in” frequently. Sometimes even staying for a few days. He usually brushed off any of their questions about why he was hanging around, claiming that he was just bored.

Sam had more or less avoided the archangel whenever he was visiting.

Here’s the thing, Sam liked to know stuff. He was the researcher, the academic. He had grown up learning that the more you knew the safer you would be, and the less you knew the more likely you were to get hurt.

So when it came to Gabriel, Sam couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He knew so little about the angel, his past, his powers, his strengths, his weaknesses. All he really knew was the Archangel had a scary sense of humour and was extremely powerful. Two things that did not go well together.

There was also something else floating around the back of Sam’s mind. But he wouldn’t let himself think about that. It wasn’t fair to him or Gabriel. It had nothing to do with the Archangel, it was just a pity that it still affected Sam so much.

So Sam had maybe, purposely dodged the sitting room when he was scouting for help, knowing the archangel was in there watching some old Christmas film.

Now Sam was left with 4 cardboard boxes and an 8ft tall Christmas tree to decorate by himself.

He decided he would start at the top of the tree. He only needed the ladder for the real top and he didn’t want to be climbing it in an hour when he was tired.

  
He put the star on first (He had wanted an angel but Cas was against it) and started with the tinsel and lights.

The tinsel went around easy enough, although Sam did have to awkwardly hug the tree and stand extremely off balance to do so. The lights however, were a different story.

Firstly it took him about 10 minutes just to untangle them and even then they just kept slipping off the branches. Sam was working on looping them around the back of the tree when, unknown to Sam, someone entered the main room.

Sam was struggling with a particular branch and his concentration was purely on the task at hand. He only had one foot on the ladder, the other foot was wobbling in the air trying to keep him balanced, when suddenly a voice cut through the silence.

Sam was so startled by the noise that he felt himself jump. His lack of balance and his momentum worked against him and he could feel himself begin to fall. To avoid the Christmas tree, Sam pushed his weight backwards and braced himself for the inevitable impact with the wooden floor.

To his surprise though he ended up falling into two strong arms instead. They caught him at his upper back and under his knees. Sam looked up, startled to see Gabriel grinning down at him. Despite Sam's shock, he couldn't help but feel his cheeks heat up. He probably looked like a right idiot falling off the ladder.

“Now that would’ve hurt” Gabe chuckled, still cradling him.

“Uh yeah, thanks” Sam managed to mumble, his embarrassment blocking any intelligent thoughts in his head from reaching his mouth.

“If you needed some help you could’ve asked” Gabriel grinned “I’m a sucker for decorating”

Sam couldn’t bring himself to look at Gabriel, he just wanted the floor to open up and swallow him (but not really because he’s already been through that… not fun).  
Gabe drew his arm back from under Sam’s knees and Sam found himself standing on his own two feet.

“Uh yeah sorry, couldn’t find you earlier” the lie rolled off his tongue before Sam could even think. He hated lying but right now it was much easier to say a lie than say “Well to be honest you make me uneasy and I was slightly scared to decorate a Christmas tree with you”. It even sounded stupid in Sam’s head.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t comment on the stupidity of his lie. As everyone in the bunker had heard Gabriel loudly announcing at breakfast what he had planned for his day and where he would be.

“Right, well I’ll just leave you to it then” Gabriel sighed turning to leave.

Pain rippled through Sam for a moment. He was disgusted at his own bad manners and behaviour. 

“Wait Gabriel…uh” Gabriel turned cocking an eyebrow “Some help would be great” Sam averted his eyes down to one of the boxes, he pretended to be fascinated with one of the red baubles.

“Splendid” When Sam looked back up Gabriel was grinning like a mad man and for a moment Sam wondered would he regret his invitation.

“Because no offence you were doing a terrible job” Gabriel elbowed Sam playfully as he pushed him out of the way to climb up the ladder.

The playful insult seemed to melt the tension away and Sam found himself chuckling.

“Well this is my first tree, I suppose I’m a bit lost”

“Wait, you’ve never had a Christmas tree before?” Gabriel gasped as he turned to face Sam, a comical dramatic expression plastered on his face.

“Not just the tree, I’ve never really had a Christmas before... or at least not one like this” as Sam replied he began began unboxing the tinsel for the middle of the tree.

Gabriel let out a low whistle “Quite a depressing life you got there kiddo, no Christmas... sheesh”

Sam couldn’t help but giggle, sending a grin onto Gabriel’s face. “Amen to that”.

Gabriel snorted at the irony.

The two worked in mostly silence after that. The conversation drifted mainly to asking the other to pass something or asking the opinion of how something looked. There was also a slight disagreement about the balance of the tree, one of them claiming the right side had too many baubles. Needless to say, the only way Gabriel saw sense was when the tree physically tilted to the right, weighed down by the baubles and figurines Gabriel had snapped up.

An hour later and they were finished. The tree in all honesty looked amazing. It was framed with golden tinsel and white lights, while red, white and gold baubles littered its branches. Different coloured wings, nutcracker men and other Christmas themed decorations littered the branches. The tree looked incredible.

“Thanks Gabe, the tree looks fantastic” Sam sighed as he slouched down in his chair, a beer cradled in his hand.  
“Gabe?” Gabriel smirked as he took a sip of his beer.

Sam froze for a second, embarrassment rolling over him once again. He hadn’t meant to say that nickname out loud.

“Uh…I…um” Sam wasn’t sure how to respond and he was beginning to panic. He had just called a famous archangel, Gabe. Who does that?

Gabriel let out a laugh “I like it. Gabeee” He dragged the word out, as though testing it out on his tongue. “Gabriel is an awful mouthful isn’t it? It’s an old man’s name really” Gabriel concluded thoughtfully.

Something seemed to take over Sam, he forgot about his panic momentarily and the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them “Aren’t you technically an old man”

Gabriel spluttered indignantly into his bottle before he gave Sam his best bitch face “Do I look like an old man?”

Sam bite his lip, trying to contain his laughter at the somewhat genuine triggered look on Gabriel’s face. “Well…”

“Oh shut up Winchester” Gabe retorted, not giving Sam a chance to finish his sentence. An hour ago Sam might have thought he had offended the archangel.

Now however, things were different. That didn’t mean Sam was any less uneasy around the archangel, the fall and the nickname still left a bad taste of embarrassment in his mouth. Still, he had gotten to see a side of the archangel he hadn’t even thought existed.


	2. Wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is maybe a bit intense a bit early on in this fic but my "plan" for this fic is a slow build for sabriel, because honestly they've very little screen time in the show and don't really know each other. Whereas Destiel is already a well established friendship so I will be moving them quicker. Anyways enjoy!

Dean groaned and banged his head off the steering wheel, successfully setting off the car’s horn. This could not be happening.

“We’ll have to go around it” Cas pointed out. 

Dean groaned again. This was not how he was meant to be spending his holidays.

He shouldn’t even have been driving. But Sam has been putting up the stupid tree and making puppy dog eyes at him to help.

So after telling Sam where he could stick the Christmas lights, he had decided to take a car (Not baby, he wouldn’t do that to her in this weather) and drove to the nearest diner for a burger.

Of course he had wandered past Cas’ room and the angel of the lord had decided to tag along. 

Now the two of them found themselves staring at a small avalanche of snow lying across the main road that definitely wasn’t there on their way into town.

It looked like it had rolled down off the hill to their left. The storm outside had also picked up in the hour they’d been eating and even in the minute they’d been parked the car was being buried.

“We better get out” Dean sighed not wanting to get trapped in the car.

Once they were outside the car Dean could see the hopelessness of the situation and cursed loudly, he even stomped his foot like a child having a tantrum.

“Great. There’s no way we’re getting through that, not even on foot” 

Cas nodded his head in agreement. Dean sighed “Don’t suppose you can poof us home?”

Cas smirked at his terminology “If you mean can I fly us home? Then unfortunately not. My wings are still recovering from...” Cas trailed off slightly looking pained, before clearing his throat.

“If I try fly us both home in this weather I’ll probably end up freefalling sorry”

“Its fine” Dean reassured him, regretting asking. “There’s a forest trail about 100 metres back, it runs through there” Dean gestures to the forest parallel to the road. “It should bring us to the other side of this mound. We’ll have to leave the car though”. 

Cas just nodded and followed the hunter as he began making his way back towards the entrance of the trail.

It was only as they were trudging through the snow that Dean realised how badly dressed he was for the weather.

He had assumed he’d be spending his time exclusively in his car and in a diner. All he had on him were walking boots, jeans, a t-shirt and a plaid shirt and a leather jacket thrown over. He didn’t even think to bring gloves, a scarf or a hat. He was now greatly regretting that.

They were a good 20 to 30 minute walk to the bunker and by the time they were at the forest trail Dean was already shaking.

Cas looked at his friends state. Lucky for him angels were much more protected from the cold.

In silence Castiel stripped off his trench coat and threw it over the hunter’s shoulders muttering a timid “here”

Dean, who had had his eyes trained on the almost hidden trail jumped in surprise.

He turned to Cas his cheeks slightly pink. Although if it was every brought up Dean would claim it was due to the cold.

“Cas no you’ll-” Dean started, uncomfortable with accepting his friends help.

“I’ll be fine” Castiel interrupts him “Put it on, you’re freezing.”

Dean bites back a retort, his cheeks warming up again as he pushes his arms through the sleeves and wraps the coat tightly around himself.

Lucky for him it was big on Cas so it fit Dean well. 

Dean instantly felt a lot warmer and was able to lift the collar upwards, protecting his neck from the wind that was hitting his back.

After a moment of silent walking Dean turned slightly to look at his friend.

“Thanks Cas”

Cas just smiled back at him “Anytime”

Dean felt a surge of warmth ripple through him and he looked away embarrassed. Now was definitely not the time to question what that meant.

While the coat definitely helped with Dean’s overall warmth after another 10 minutes of trudging through the pine scented forest Dean’s face and hands were freezing.

He refused to complain though. If anything he just felt weak walking alongside Cas who didn’t seem to be affected at all by the cold.

“Stop” Cas cried out putting a hand on Dean’s shoulder.

“You’re freezing”

Dean rolled his eyes “Cas I’m fine…”

“No you’re not” Castiel retorted his eyes sharp. He didn’t need to be an angel to know he was lying.

“Well standing here isn’t helping, we need to get back.” Dean barked back, uncomfortable with the conversation. He began walking ahead.

Cas couldn’t let him keep doing this. He would have pneumonia by the time they got back to the bunker and even though him and Gabriel could heal him, the next 20 minutes would be hell for Dean.

“Wait” He said his voice soft. He knew what he had to do but Cas could feel himself almost shaking in fear. He was going to do something he had never done in front of another human, something he wasn’t even comfortable doing in front of other angels.

“Cas c’mon just…” Dean had the words ripped from his throat as he looked back at his friend.

Except now it wasn’t just his friend. It was an angel. Two giant wings spread out behind Cas. They were pitch black with green, purple and blue tints running along the tips of the feathers. Some scars ran through the main bones of the wings and the feathers seemed to thin in random areas where they looked like they should have been thicker.

Dean was completely gobsmacked. All he could do was stand there, speechless. They spanned out roughly 7ft either side of Cas. They were the most beautiful things Dean had even seen.

Wordlessly and with his eye’s trained on the ground Cas caught up with dean, his right wing curving around the hunter and leaning over him. Cas kept walking and Dean was quick to keep in pace, not wanting to hit the wing.

The wing blocked the wind and snow from hitting Dean and even radiated a bit of heat.

Dean was sure he’d be completely embarrassed with the fact he was literally walking shoulder to shoulder with Cas if it wasn’t for the fact that all his thoughts were clouded by the beauty surrounding him.

He couldn’t help but stare at them. Which of course led to him tripping and almost falling face first into a pile of snow. However Cas easily grabbed his bicep and steadied him.

It still shocked Dean, even years after knowing Cas how strong his friend was. If Sam had tried to catch Dean like that they’d both be sprawled on the floor.

“Careful” 

“Yeah like that’s easy with the umm… Wings!” Dean couldn’t help but explode slightly.

The nonchalance Cas had for the whole situation was killing Dean. This was huge for him. He’d never seen Angel wings before, he didn’t think a human was even able to see them.

Cas cringed slightly and Dean wondered if was somehow rude to talk about them. 

He raised an eyebrow at Cas but the angel seemed to be ignoring him and his outburst and now they were both walking again. 

The storm kept getting worse and now Dean was struggling to see where he was going. He kept tripping and stumbling, the ground just a blur beneath him. They were only 15 minutes from the bunker, he could do this.

As he said this of course, with his fantastic luck, he felt his foot fall where there should have been solid ground. He let out a yelp as his foot fell through some snow into a pot hole.

Cas grabbed his arm and shoulder and balanced his friend, this time he kept one arm looped with Dean’s and began to pull him through the storm.

“Cas what are you” 

“Shut up Dean, I’m the only one who can see” Cas sighed, getting irritated by Dean’s insecurity complex of accepting help and well his insecurity of his other feelings…

Dean’s face felt like it was on fire as he clung onto Cas’ arm. He couldn’t wait till this was over. Or at least that’s what he told himself.

Finally they reached the end of the trail and were now back on the main road. Had the storm not been encasing them, they would’ve been able to see the bunker about 400 metres down the road.

Now that they were back on a main road Dean knew he could let go of his friends arm, even felt Cas loosen his hold on Dean’s forearm. Wordlessly though, Dean continued to hold onto his friend as they trudged through the snow.

He could feel Cas glance at him and before Cas could say anything, Dean idiotically blurt out “Your wings are awesome”.

Cas paused mid stride for a second before continuing on. His face looked somewhat pained and he suddenly found great interest in his shoes.

“Cas?” Dean lightly elbowed his friend. Cas shied away from the contact, even pulling his arm out of Dean’s grasp. Dean looked at his friend, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to offend you” 

“No you didn’t… it’s…It doesn’t matter” Cas replied squinting ahead, trying to keep an eye on the bunker door as the storm continued hounding them.

Dean raised a brow “Cas, that’s bull”

Castiel continued staring ahead. 

“Is it…did you not want to show me? Or something?” Dean questioned. “Because if that’s it, I’m sorry you had to…”

“Don’t” Cas retorted his voice sharp.

“What I-”

“Was about to apologise for needing help. It’s not a crime you know to…” Cas sighs mid rant and stops Dean outside the bunker door, his hand on his friend’s shoulder “I’m your friend. You’re not a burden, ever. So just don’t apologise when I help you”

Dean watched as Cas’ wings disappeared and Cas reached for the bunker’s door handle. He wasn’t sure how to reply and luckily Cas didn’t seem to expect him to. 

When they got into the bunker their conversation was obviously over as they were met with Sam, Gabriel, Kevin and Charlie all playing Uno in the main room. 

The only one who noticed them enter was Charlie who raised an eye at Dean in Cas’ trenchcoat but said nothing.

Dean handed Cas back his trench coat and Cas quickly used some mojo to dry and warm both of them as they walked down the stairs to join their friends.

Dean was determined to find out more about Cas and his wings but for today Dean had enough of feelings and chick flick moments.


	3. Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

It had all started off peacefully…

Just messing around in the snow. How could Sam mess up something so simple? How could he turn a harmless setting into a war zone?

The answer was obvious. He’d do it by being his usual clumsy moose self.

When Charlie had told the boys the snow had calmed down enough to go outside and that she was going to build a snowman, well, Sam had basically catapulted after her.

Building a snowman, like a proper snowman had been on his bucket list for years. 

He remembers watching in envy as the young boys and girls in Christmas films built theirs. He remembers begging Dean to let him go outside to do it and Dean having to stop him.

He remembers hating his brother at the time. 

It’s only years later that Sam had realised his older brother was terrified to bring him anywhere when his dad was away. It was only when he old enough to know how the world worked that he could forgive him.

Perhaps Dean remembered those times as well. Maybe he had wanted to build a snowman just as bad or maybe Sam’s disappointed face was sewn into his memories because for whatever reason Dean joins them outside the bunker minutes after them, carrying a scarf and carrot with a huge grin on his face with a sulking Kevin following him.

“How big do you reckon we can make this fucker” Dean grins, dropping the props on the ground.

Charlie laughs at him as she stops mid push. “Depends, how strong are you?” 

Dean’s eyes suddenly harbour a dangerous glint “A challenge? For moi? Let’s do this”

Everyone laughs as Dean hip bumps Sam out of the way and starts vigorously rolling the base snowball.

“Can I go inside now? This counts as ‘Participating’ right?” Kevin sighs staring on as Sam starts rolling another giant snowball.

He gets a chorus of no’s in response and Kevin resigns himself to being in charge of decorating and wanders off to find some sticks for the arms and stones for the face.

It takes them half an hour, but after blood, sweat and a furious Charlie (They may have underestimated how hard it would be to lift a giant ass snowman head onto the 6 ft base and middle they’d made and accidentally broke it) they finally had their snowman. 

Kevin silently decorated the snowman as the other three sat in the snow soaking their clothes. He perfectly aligned the rocks into a glowing smile and with a carrot, two giant stones for eyes, a scarf, 2 stick arms and Kevin’s own hat, their snowman looked… humanish.

Charlie snapped a photo with her phone before bullying the three men into grouping around the snowman for a selfie. She forced Sam to take the photo muttering he was the only one who could get a good downwards angle on everyone.

When Charlie had her phone safely in her coat pocket she scanned their surroundings proudly before throwing herself onto her back about a metre from their snowman. She then began furiously waving her arms and legs.

“SNOW ANGELS” She screams laughing up at the snow trickling down from the clouds above. 

She paused for a moment staring at the boys “C’mon! Don’t leave a girl hanging!”

Kevin shook his head determined, no way. Dean had to agree with him and stubbornly folded his arms.

Sam of course fell to the floor laughing beside Charlie, feeling both like a fool and kid as they giggled together waving their limbs.

Dean was at this point filming the whole thing. Kevin even helping him with the video quality and brightness levels.

It was of course when Sam and Charlie were in complete hysterics for no particular reason on the ground that Gabriel and Cas appeared, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.

“We leave for an hour to check something out and you kids lose your minds?” Gabe questions raising a brow at the snowman and the crazies on the floor.

“What are you two doing?” Cas asks his brows furrowing in confusion as he squints at the pair.

The two angels seem completely lost which send the four humans into hysterics again.

“We- Weaha We’re maahahaking Sn-Snow an-anahahah angels” Charlie struggles to say as she’s overcome with laughter.

Kevin and Dean are the first to recover from their fit as Gabe raises his two brows in utter confusion

“Snow angels?”

“Oh c’mon, Cas is a hopeless case when it comes to human traditions but I thought you’d been on earth for years, how can you not know about snow angels?” Dean questions as Charlie and Sam try to recover.

“Snow isn’t really my thing” Gabriel replies.

“Your thing?” Kevin asks, curious.

“Yes! Well, being an all-powerful Archangel does have its perks. One of them being I get to zap myself to tropical warm lands whenever there’s a chill in the air. Anyways that’s beside the point what the hell are they doing?” 

Sam laughs and sits up motioning around him. “See? The shape I made in the snow, looks like your classic angel tree topper, wings and a gown”

Cas tilted his head in confusion before seeing the shape. Gabriel just burst out laughing.

“Ah yes, it’s obvious by how angelic you both look”

He motions to their soaked backs and rumpled clothing and Sam can’t help the blush that suddenly creeps across his cheeks.

“What of the man?” Cas asks looking at the snowman

“Snowman” Charlie giggles “I named him Frodo”

“You know Sammy I think the dress suits you” Dean smirks walking towards his brother to give him a hand up. 

Sam smirks at his brother as a hand behind his back grabs a fistful of snow “Very funny Dean” 

He flings the snow at his brother thinking he’s distracted, it’s not even a proper snowball shape just a fistful of icy justice. 

Now in a normal world, where Sam is lucky and things go his way, the snow would have simply hit his brother.

However this wasn’t the normal world and Sam was anything but lucky.

Dean caught the flash of movement behind Sam’s back and was quick enough to dive to the side to dodge the incoming projectile. 

Of course, it was at this moment Gabriel was heading over to examine the snowman and happened to be walking behind Dean. 

You can only imagine the horror on Sam’s face as he decked an Archangel of the Lord in the face with snow and the instant wave of hysterics that hit the other humans around him.

Gabriel turned looking down at Sam with a mixture of confusion, amusement and anger.

Sam was frozen in disbelief and seeing even just the hint of anger in the archangels eyes threatened to awaken Sam’s-

Sam’s thoughts were cut short by Dean throwing a perfectly rounded snowball right at Cas’ face. 

That was followed quickly by Charlie smacking one right in Dean’s chest while grabbing Kevin’s wrist and racing towards a clump of trees. “SNOWBALL FIGHT” She shrieks hiding behind a spruce tree with Kevin.

The angels look on confused as Dean grabs Sam’s arm, pulling him up and dragging him behind some bushes as Charlie and Kevin let fire.

“DIBS ON THE GIANT” Dean yells from behind the bush. Sam glares at him insulted and considers pushing a fistful of snow down his brother’s back before realising Dean was actually a great ally in this scenario. 

The brothers began scrabbling to make snowballs as Charlie and Kevin race from tree to tree around the clearing trying to get a good angle on the brothers.

The angels are still standing beside the snowman confused. Snowballs go zooming past them, trying to hit both the other team and the angels.

Of course now that they’re alert the angels have no problem dodging the attacks as they try to figure out what in Heavens name is going on.

Gabriel smirks suddenly when he spots Sam stick his head up, the Winchester’s focus on Kevin. With a flick of his wrist Gabriel sends a lump of snow flying from the ground, it transform in the air into a ball before smacking Sam into the face.

“TAKE THAT SAMANTHA” Gabriel calls out as with a snap of his fingers a snow wall about 4 ft high appears in front of him and Cas. He pulls the younger angels down beside him as they lean against the wall. 

They’re now camped in the middle of the clearing in front of the snowman directly across from the Winchesters who are at the edge of the clearing, with Charlie and Kevin running through the clearing and from tree to tree around the edge of the clearing.

“C’mon Cas this is war. We can’t lose” Gabe smirks elbowing his brother

While Dean is laughing at Sam. Charlie whips out from behind a tree standing behind the Winchesters and decks them both before turning and sprinting.

Dean growls playfully before chasing after Charlie with snow in either hand. Kevin manages to hit Cas before being hit by both Gabriel and a passing Dean.

Sam races from the bush while everyone’s distracted to a tree to his right, giving him a sideways view of Gabriel and Cas’ cover. 

However, as he perfectly aims a snowball at the pair’s back Sam ends up getting a face full of snow.

He looks in disbelief at the now moving “Frodo” the snowman who had just thrown the snowball.

Gabriel turns his head catching Sam’s eye and smirks.

“HEY NO CHEATING” Charlie yells, still running from Dean as Kevin tries to help her.

“ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR” Gabriel screams triumphantly. 

However the smug look is wiped off his face as his solider begins to throw a torpedo of snowballs at him and Castiel. 

“GABRIEL” Cas yells out in disbelief as he races to the trees.

Sam bursts out into laughter as Gabriel runs laughing to the trees.

The snowman had snowballs materialising in his hands in the blink of an eye and was now throwing them at scary speeds at everyone around the clearing.

There was a chorus of “GABRIELS” and curses as everyone ducked for cover, the war between them forgotten.

A snap could be heard throughout the clearing but when Sam ducked his head out to see if the anarchy was over he was almost decked in the face with a compressed pile of ice that was thrown with such force it could have easily broken his nose had he not been tackled to the ground.

He was now lying flat on his back behind a shrub with Gabriel hovering over him. The Archangels attention however was on the clearing. He was snapping his fingers furiously glaring at Frodo. 

He sighed grumpily before disappearing off Sam and reappearing behind the snowman. With a single punch the creature shattered back into a pile of snow.

Charlie ran dramatically from the trees throwing herself onto her knees. “NOOOO” She yelled her face tilted upwards, reminding Sam of the Shawshank Redemption. 

Twenty minutes later everyone found themselves wrapped in blankets around the bunker’s sitting room. Dean and Cas were curled up on the couch, sitting way too close together as everyone else pretended not to notice. Charlie had her head on Kevin’s shoulder as she played her DS and Kevin read and Sam was left sharing (thankfully) the longest couch in the room with Gabriel.

The Archangel was still pouting over his “failed” creation, grumbling on about how he now knew how God felt. Sam couldn’t help but laugh at the comment which seemed to perk Gabriel up as Sam’s laughter drove his bad mood away.

Not that Sam noticed this, but the reaction didn’t go past Castiel’s watchful eye. Perhaps there was more to Gabriel sticking around then simple “boredom”.


	4. Mistletoe

Dean wakes up disorientated, his body is twisted and he doesn’t remember falling asleep… also this definitely isn’t his room. 

For starters it was way too warm, the bunker always maintained room temperature. Secondly, he was lying on something hard, something that wasn’t his memory foam mattress and as he began to really wake up he realised someone’s arm was around him.

His hunter instincts instantly kicked in. Memories flashing through his head of all the times he’d woken up compromised. Strapped to a chair torture devices hanging around him, a maniac with a gun to his head or a knife to his throat.

However, instead of epically grabbing whoever was holding him and expertly pinning them, he ends up just groggily jumping and trying to sit up, his arms wind milling madly.

Of course the angel holding him felt the panic shoot through the human and was quick to grab the hunter’s arm before it smacked him in the face

“Dean, Dean it’s okay, you’re okay” Castiel gasps out as the hunter still dazed begins fighting against him, elbowing him and struggling to get off the couch.

Dean lets out a whine of panic before Castiel’s voice registers in his head. The hunter instantly freezes before slowly his muscles begin to relax. 

He leans against the angel panting slightly, his heart beat slowly returning to normal. 

“Sorry was a bit disorientated” Dean chuckles trying to come off as nonchalant.

It was only then he realises he’s lying across the couch resting his head on Cas’ shoulder, that he had just woken up basically on top of his best friend.

Dean shot up leaning away from Cas a blush blossoming across his face.

“Uh, um sorry about that” Dean stammers out, scratching the back of his neck.

Cas just squints at Dean looking confused. 

To break the silence Dean leans forward picking his mug off the table that was still half full with tea.

“Dammit” Dean mutters swirling around the now cold drink. 

He sighs about to bring the mug to his lips before Cas wraps his own hand around both the mug and Dean’s hand.

Dean can feel the heat radiating off the angel’s hand and slowly steam rises from the mug. He raises a brow at the angel who ignores him, concentrating on the drink.

Dean can’t help but notice the cold that sweeps over his hand when Cas pulls his arm back.

Before Dean takes a sips he can’t help but blurt out “You could have woken me” 

His friend looks at him seriously for a moment “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

Dean continues sipping from the mug, enjoying the taste. “Still, I would have just got up and crashed in my room.”

Cas grabs his own mug off the counter, smirking slightly “True, but it’s so rare for you to have such pleasant dreams”

Dean freezes as he places his mug on the counter. What had he been dreaming about? Could Cas see his dreams? Had Cas always been able to do that? 

He glanced at his friend who was now watching Dean as Cas gulped down his hot chocolate.

Suddenly images start flowing at Dean, dry lips, intense blue eyes, warm fingertips grazing over his skin and two giant wings spread out in front of him.

Dean chokes as he swallows his mouthful of tea. “W-what do you mean?” A small frown appearing on his face. “Were you stalking my dreams?” Dean asks a hint of anger behind his words as he places his tea on the coffee table.

Cas’ resting bitch face filters across his face. “Of course not Dean. That’s a complete invasion of privacy”

Dean relaxes into the cushion of the couch smiling at the answer. Thank God. He didn’t even want to know how Cas would have reacted had he-

“Of course, I can’t help but feel the emotions radiating off you. You were quiet…content with you dreams last night”

Dean smirked. If only he knew. Hah.

“Nor can I help knowing when you’re dreaming about me.”

Dean’s head whips to face his friend, Dean’s eye wide and staring at Cas’ own. The angel looks delighted with himself and looks as though he’s trying hard not to burst out laughing.

“I’m uh…I’m gonna go…my room” Dean stutters as he dives off the couch, his head a blaze with shame and embarrassment. 

In his panic he forgets about the large blanket that was covering him and Cas and manages to successfully tangle his long legs in it. He ends up sprawled out on the floor, his head only having missed the table by inches.

Castiel chuckles as Dean groans on the ground. He doesn’t even have the will to untangle himself.

Cas soon stands and puts his arm out to help the Winchester up. Dean can’t even look Castiel in the face as he allows the angel to pull him to his feet.

Castiel can’t help but smirk at the nervous Winchester. He turns suddenly and heads towards the kitchen motioning Dean to follow.

“C’mon there’s some pie in the kitchen”

“It’s 1am” Dean tries to argue following his angel, his hands playing nervously with the bottom of his plaid shirt.

“Never stopped you before”

Dean doesn’t bother arguing as he sits down at the table, Cas serving up two dishes of apple pie.

“I thought it was all just molecules to you now” Dean points out as Cas takes in a mouthful of pie.

“It is, but unlike before I now know what it tastes like. When I feel the texture the sensation of the taste comes back to me.” Cas explains.

Dean just nods his head in reply, even though he didn’t completely get what Cas meant. He takes a deep breath and a mouthful of pie before asking Castiel his next question.

“Speaking of angel stuff” Cas squints suspiciously as Dean continues “I thought humans couldn’t see an angels wings.

Castiel stiffens and plays clumsily with his food, sucking in a deep breath before answering. “Most humans can’t. In fact very few can.” 

“Like an angel’s true voice” Dean cuts in.

Cas nods slowly, surprised the hunter remembered that.

“But wait, I couldn’t understand your true voice. It was all screeches and shattered windows”

“The voice is different for humans.” Cas pauses for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to describe this to a non-celestial being “Think of it this way. Humans unlike a lot of animals, rely heavily on their sight. For example, a dog would use its hearing and sense of smell over sight. So when it comes to either hearing something complex or seeing something complex, the visual would be easier for a human to comprehend then say the audio”

Cas looks worriedly at Dean, realising his explanation wasn’t perfect but it was hard to describe it to a human. Like trying to explain a word to someone who doesn’t speak your language.

After a moment of eye brow furrowing Dean looks at Cas “Okay yeah, makes sense.”

Cas nods. Hoping Dean wouldn’t pry further. But of course why did he even bother hoping at this point. The hunter was undoubtfully stubborn.

“So how come I never saw them before, I mean I could see their shadow and all, but not the real thing”

Cas flinches at the words. He really did not want to talk about this. 

“An angel materialising their wings outside Heaven is well… unheard of. There’s this taboo about it. Even in Heaven most angels won’t materialise their wings unless their around angels they’re comfortable with or when they need to use their wings.” Cas scratches the back of his head. A tell-tale sign he was embarrassed or uncomfortable.

Dean could feel a knife twisting in his gut. 

“But you showed me yours”

Cas smirks at the statement “I have a knack for doing the opposite of most angels” he says the words almost bitter as he finishes off his pie.

Dean watches as the angel drops his dish in the sink and heads towards the door. Obviously the conversations over.

“Goodnight Dean”

Before Cas can make it out the door, Dean is on his feet and gripping onto his friend’s sleeve.

“Cas about earlier today, I-“

“Dean please just drop it” Cas’ words are filled with a mixture of anger and fatigue. As though he’d been waiting for this moment and just wanted it to be over. 

“Cas I just wanted to say-“

“I’m sorry I overwhelmed you, I shouldn’t have done it. I should have used my grace or tried something, anything but-“

“Cas will you just let me-“

“Next time I’ll think things through-“

“Look just stop talk-“

“I know they were a disappointment-“

“CASTIEL” 

Cas froze. He hadn’t meant to say that last part. Let it slip. He knew it would only lead to a long conversation, one he didn’t want to have. Dean was glaring at him now, anger radiating off him. Castiel hadn’t heard his full name said by the hunter in a long time.

Dean’s hand is now grasping Cas’ wrist tightly and Cas stares at the connection, unable to look the hunter in the face.

“I was honoured” Dean’s voice is surprisingly soft. When Cas manages to look up he notices the anger is gone and his eyes instead shine with gratitude. 

Dean of course wanted to ask what Cas had meant. A disappointment? He couldn’t imagine where the angel had gotten that idea.

But Dean knew to pick his battles carefully. He could find out more about that insecurity later. Right now he needed Castiel to understand.

“You looked conflicted when you first showed them. After what you told me, it makes more sense. Thank you for trusting me, for showing me that trust” Dean was looking away at this point. His skin crawling at his own sappy words.

He wasn’t good at this kind of stuff. But even Dean knew you needed the odd chick flick moment to keep everything swimming.

“Dean I-“ Castiel’s voice wobbles and Dean looks at him again, locking their eyes.

Dean opens his mouth. He doesn’t know what he would have said then. What words could of fixed everything. He’s not sure because suddenly his eyes are glued on the hanging plant above their heads.

No doubt it was put there by their resident Archangel trickster.

Dean’s mouth twists into a smirk as he whispers “Mistletoe” 

He lets go for a moment. All the general chatter in his head. Is he gay? Does it count if it’s an angel? Does he even like him? They’re bros right? No homo? Dean’s always been a babe magnet. But is babe only a word for girls? Does he even like Dean? How could he? How could he when he knows exactly who Dean is?

Their lips collide softly and briefly. Castiel’s eyes are wide open in surprise. Not understanding what mistletoe has to do with kissing. 

An explosion of apple ripples across Cas’ mouth and something else… Dean. He never knew anything could taste so spectacular when he wasn’t human. The kiss was like an explosion against Cas’ lips and he found himself frozen in the moment. 

It’s only when Dean pulls away does Cas realise he hadn’t kissed him back.

Then it’s too late. Dean’s heading off to bed leaving Cas standing in the kitchen’s doorway. His lips tingling and his face warming at the thought of what just happened. 

His thumb gently brushes against his lips as Dean turns the corner out of view.

He may need a second opinion.


	5. Guardian Angels

The snowstorm had briefly stopped in Kansas. There was no more wind or pelting snow, just freezing temperatures and an almost clear night sky.

Thousands of stars were spread out across the pitch black night, the moon just hidden behind a single cloud. 

The forest surrounding the bunker which was usually dark and sinister, seemed almost remodelled with the addition of snow. The white blanket covering the area gave the usual haunting scene a lighter tone.

Suddenly twisted tree branches that used to reach out like claws grabbing at innocent hikers were decorated with beautiful pointed jewellery, the hanging icicles shining in even the darkest part of the woods.

The crunch of snow under Gabriel’s shoes as he walks down one of the many hiking trails is like a symphony of all his favourite sounds. He hadn’t felt this content in a long time.

This late at night, when the humans were fast asleep and Cas was busy reading through the bunker’s library, Gabriel could really think. 

During the day he was stuck listening to noise, his brother and the human’s minds never stopped. Thousands of thoughts being hurled around the place.

Any normal being would have gone mad, however Gabriel had had millenniums to get used to the noise. Most of the time he could ignore it, the same way people tune out the sound of rain against their window, or the sound of someone breathing beside them.

It’s always there and the second you think about it, it seems to amplify. But Gabriel was used to the bunker’s noise now. Or at least most of it.

He didn’t like reading peoples thoughts. Not that they bothered him. Gabriel knew all too well that a human thinks a million thoughts a day, most of which they won’t remember and most of which aren’t what they really think. Their thoughts are mainly ideas piecing together an idea of how they really feel.

Most of the time it wasn’t worth listening, just boring old human stuff that Gabriel was bored of hearing.

However there was one person’s thoughts that had been on his mind. Sam. The human confused him.

His thoughts were there, buzzing around in that moose head of his. Yet it was like a layer of static lay between his mind and Gabriel’s. His thought’s only audible when his emotions peaked, other than that it was almost impossible to know what was happening in his head.

It had taken Gabriel a week or two to first notice this phenomenon. He had been suspicious then, the brothers and Cas had told him they’d been able to stop Lucifer with his ingenious plan, but other than that they hadn’t gone into detail and Gabriel had a feeling he was missing something big.

His suspicion had turned into full blown curiosity when he’d gone into Sam’s room one night, placing his fingers on Sam’s head he’d tried to push through the static. He didn’t exactly get the reaction he’d been expecting.

Humans could sometimes feel an angel’s grace, usually when they were being healed. Like a small itch or tickle running across their injuries. However grace sliding through a human’s mind, just searching for thoughts shouldn’t have been detectable.

However, the second Gabriel’s grace so much as nudged the edge of Sam’s mind the hunter had cried out. His heart rate increasing, blood pressure spiking, physically he tensed and his breathing came out in short bursts. A full blown panic attack emitting from behind the human’s usual calm stature.

Gabriel had instantly sent the human into a deep sleep, yanking his grace back. The human had slept fine after that. Lost in a dreamless sleep. Leaving Gabriel more confused than when he’d first entered the room.

He’d thought about trying the same on Dean to find out what he knew about Sam’s reactions. In the end he decided against it. Maybe it’d just be more fun to find out himself, either by being told or piecing it together.

But despite his best efforts over the last 2 months, he still had no new information. If anything Sam Winchester was even more of a mystery. 

He was friendly with everyone in the bunker, always including people, messing with them, joking around… with everyone except Gabriel.

At first he thought it was something to do with a grudge, for the whole “I killed your brother a hundred times and trapped you both in tv land” blah blah blah, but after 2 months Gabriel had concluded there was something else.

Like how Sam would instantly tense at his presence. How any step Gabriel made towards improving their acquaintance relationship just sent Sam running away. Even when Gabriel got him to bring down his wall, like when they’d decorated the tree together, Sam would just close in on himself again afterwards. 

Acting like the progress they’d just made hadn’t happened. It wasn’t even a sense of Sam didn’t like him. It was almost like Sam was afraid of him. Which didn’t make much sense to Gabriel.

Even when he’d been messing with the Winchesters, they’d never feared him, they were more annoyed with him. It was something that had always ticked him off. As if they could even comprehend how powerful he really was.

At that last thought a nearby sapling that had been suffocating under mounds of snow suddenly shot up into a fully grown spruce tree. Gabriel’s frustration was radiating off him, his grace catching onto the edge of the forest trail as he walked.

He drew it in slowly, wrapping it better around himself. Last thing he needed was to accidently send the forest into a hurricane of growth and possibly fire.

Gabriel was about to go back to his analysing when suddenly he heard a thought, louder and sharper than any thought he’d ever heard come from any of the residents in the bunker. A frequency generally only angels and physics could reach.

It was one of sheer panic and fright. The fear so twisted that it made Gabriel’s stomach churn. In a flash he was in the bunker. At first he flew into Kevin’s room, he assumed the prophet would be the most likely to have sent out a message like that, seeing as it couldn’t of been Castiel. 

Gabriel could still feel his grace peacefully radiating throughout the area. However, as he cocked his head sideways, listening to the bunker, he could hear the whispers of concern in Castiel’s grace.

In the blink of an eye Gabriel found himself beside Castiel, having flown towards the centre of his grace.

He finsd him sitting on the edge of Sam’s bed. His hand stroking through the younger Winchesters hair. 

Sam looks awful lying there. His face is twisted into a mask of pain and terror. He’s covered in a layer of cold sweat and his body is hunched up in the fetal position.

“What’s wrong with him” Gabriel whispers. He watches as Sam nuzzles into Castiel’s touch, his heart rate slowing with each stroke.

“Nightmares” Castiel replies in his usual factual tone. He doesn’t even seemed surprised by Gabriel’s silent entrance.

“Is this usual for him?” Gabriel asks, walking around the bed and sitting down the other side of Sam.

Castiel grimaces before nodding slightly.

“Why not just-“Gabriel goes to press his fingers on Sam’s skull only to have Castiel grab his wrist.

Gabriel gives his brother a confused look, one of his eyebrows raising as a silent question.

Castiel looks torn as he stares at his brother and at Sam.

“You can’t” Castiel says firmly, letting go of Gabriel’s wrist as Sam lets out a small whimper at the loss of the angel’s hand.

“Why not?”

“You know why” Castiel retorts his hand going back to Sam’s head. He locks eyes with his brother. “I know you tried to look in his head already.”

Gabriel stares bewildered at his brother. He wasn’t used to having beings around him who could sense the angel side of him.

“Okay, smarty pants. Mind telling me then why ole Sammy boy reacts to grace the way he does” Gabriel challenges, slightly glaring at his brother. 

Usually a glare from an Archangel would send any seraph into hysterics to please them. However, that had never been Castiel. Even when he was younger, just a fledgling, he would question Gabriel.

For now Castiel just looks sad as Sam begins to breathe easier. Gabriel waits for an answer. Despite knowing he probably wasn’t going to get the kind of answer he wanted.

“It’s not my place to say” Castiel starts

“Bullshit”

Castiel glares at his brother then. “Look, its Sam’s choice. Just drop it.”

Gabriel raises his eyebrows in surprise at his brother’s forceful tone before quickly hiding his shock behind a smart retort.

“Oh Cassie you know I love it when you get all serious”

Castiel just about has the energy to roll his eyes as Gabriel leans slightly across the bed, batting his eyelashes.

The room is suddenly eerily quiet. Sam’s breathing has gone from loud and panicky to just silent.

“Uh guys, what’s going on?” The two angels turn their attention away from each other, to the hunter who was now trying to sit up in his bed. His hand reaching out and flicking on the light.

The shocked look on his face is priceless in Gabriel’s opinion.

“What Sammy, never heard of having angels looking over you?” Gabriel teases, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. 

Castiel can’t help but smirk at his brother’s comment and Sam’s groggy confused face.

“You were having a nightmare Sam, we felt your distress” Castiel clarifies.

“Oh uh right” Sam suddenly looks very uncomfortable and a small blush was painting itself across Sam’s cheeks.

“Sorry we woke you. We’ll let you sleep now” Castiel stands up as he speaks, giving the somewhat suffocated human some room.

Gabriel suddenly gets an idea, it’s slightly mean but might just help him in getting Sam to open up to him.

“Hey kiddo I can help you sleep dreamlessly if you want” He raises his hand slowly in front of Sam, making it out as though he was going to touch his temple.

Castiel’s gruff voice sounds through his head GABRIEL.

Sam looks somewhere between petrified and tempted but is quick to hide the emotions on his face and the slight flinch he made when Gabriel raises his hand.

“No thanks, it was just a bad dream, I’ll be fine” Sam rushes out.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow at him but nods slowly, retracting his hand.

“Okay, well night Samsquatch” With a wink and his signature snap, Castiel and him are in the bunker’s main room.

“Gabriel what was that” Castiel hisses

“What? He had to know that I had figured out the whole scared of grace thing and it’s not like I’m gonna tell him what I did when he was asleep” 

Castiel glares at Gabriel for a moment before shaking his head and heading towards the door.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“To read” Castiel retorts

“What no night time dmcs?” Gabriel smirks as his brother pauses, nearly out of earshot.

“Go back to your forest”

Gabriel can’t help but let out a chuckle. 

“Awh, and here I was thinking you’d want to talk about your *ahem* smooch with Deano”

Cas practically sprints back into the room, a look of panic on his face.

“How did you-“ 

“Hello? Archangel” Gabriel smirks as he takes a seat at one of the wooden table.

“Now tell me… Why didn’t you kiss him back?”


	6. Ice-skating catastrophes

“Ah come on Sammy! You’re the one who wants to do all this Christmas crap! You’ve decorated your tree, made your snowman, your snow angels and even had a snowball war. Ice-skating is just another thing to cross off your list” Dean reasons leaning against the doorframe to the bunker’s main library.

Sam sends an unimpressed scoff in his direction.

“You just want to watch me fall on my ass” Sam retorts, flicking to the next page of his novel.

“True” Dean chuckles walking towards his brother “But c’mon, it’ll be fun. Kevin’s never been ice-skating either” 

Sam shakes his head, refusing to look up at his brother who was now leaning against the table impatiently drumming his fingers on the oak wood.

No way was Sam going ice-skating just to fall flat on his face and be made fun of for the next week. 

“No way to convince you?” Dean questions, staring down at his younger brother.

Sam sighs “Not this time. Have fun though, Cas looks excited”

“What’s that supposed to mean” Dean glares.

“Oh nothing” Sam smirks innocently, his eyes full of glee.

Dean looks uneasily at his brother. No way could he know about the kiss…

“Fine then. Read your book bitch” Dean growls, messing up Sam’s hair on his way out of the room.

“Jerk!” Sam laughs, settling back into his chair. 

Sam had to admit though, he wouldn’t mind trying ice-skating. Preferably by himself or with some random instructor who didn’t know him. For now though he was quite content with his book. 

****************************

 

“All ready to go?” Charlie asks excitedly, bouncing happily on the balls of her feet.

“Yah yah, we’re coming” Dean playfully grumbles, following Charlie up the bunker steps towards the front door. Cas and Kevin were following quietly behind them, both smiling at Charlie’s antics.

“It’s been so long since I’ve skated! This is gonna be epic!” Charlie squeals, opening the door. She swings her skates happily in her hands (Courtesy of their local angels) as the four of them head to the frozen pond.

It was only a small thing really. Gabriel had found it on one of his nightly strolls only a five minute walk from the bunker.

It was mainly concealed by a thick wall of pine trees and the four had to literally pushtheir way through a web of branches to get to it. 

Charlie was the first to stumble into the clearing and she couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her. The place was beautiful.

Surrounding the pond was tree’s as far as the eye could see and branches that hung limply over the edge of the frozen water anywhere the forest overlapped with the pond, icicles could be seen glimmering on them in the sunlight.

They made the entire place sparkle. This only added to the frozen purity of the place. The air felt like frost on their faces, sharp and unforgiving. Yet it only added to the neutrality of the place. Everything here seemed pure.

When Dean finds his way to the edge of the pond his mind immediately races to one place. This place reminded him of purgatory. He thought that would make him feel sad or scared or even angry. 

Instead he stares at the frozen pond in determination.

“Let’s do this.”

Within minutes they have their skates on.

Castiel is first on the ice, effortlessly gliding across the frozen water. He’d had centuries to learn how to skate. 

His heart soars as he glides around the pond. It had been far too long since he’d done something as simplistic as figure skating. A hobby he had once cherished. 

Charlie was next. She’d almost forgotten how slippery ice was. She wobbles cautiously for a moment, trying to co-ordinate her movements.

Cas is beside her in seconds. He grabs her arm and gently gets her moving around the ice. Her legs remembering their purpose begin moving and soon she’s flying around the pond, letting out whoops of joy as she skids and twirls.

Castiel circles back to Dean and Kevin.

Dean was looking uncertainly now at the pond. He knew how to skate but that had been a long time ago.

Also usually there was a barrier around an ice rink to help people get used to the ice… the pond didn’t have that option.

Kevin was lacing up his second boot when Dean cautiously made his way onto the ice.

Like Charlie he found himself remembering how hard skating actually was when his two legs were already planted on the ice.

Dean jumps and almost ends up falling forward onto the ice when Cas grabs his arm. Dean had been glaring down at the ice and hadn’t seen him skating over. Castiel Starts to pull him gently across the ice.

Now that he didn’t have to worry about actually moving, Dean was able to figure out his technique. 

It only took a minute before he got the hang of it. His heart suddenly beating faster at the adrenaline of the moment.

The moment was almost ruined thought when Cas had to let go of him and head back to the edge of the pond to help Kevin. Leaving a cold touch to Dean’s forearm. 

Dean found himself gliding up to Charlie to snap himself out of his daze, the two of them starting a game of tag on the ice.

The next twenty minutes consist of Charlie and Dean acting like fools, falling over themselves as they chase one another around the pond. Dean ends up falling on his ass in the middle of the ice at one point, which results in Charlie falling onto the ice in hysterics.

Cas helped them put up with a grin on his face.

Kevin on the other hand had spent most of the time clutching on to a patient, if not amused Castiel as he ranted on and on about how outside stuff wasn’t really his thing and he wanted to leave.

Of course everyone ignored his pleas and after twenty minutes, with plenty of guidance and tips from the resident angel, he was able to shakily skate around the pond.

“My mom loved skating” Kevin admitted quietly to the angel as Cas steadied him yet again. He was skating by himself now but Cas stayed beside him, not wanting the boy to lose his confidence if he fell.

“She used to watch it on the television. They made it look really easy, all the twirls and jumps”

Castiel chuckled at that “Everything always seems easy, until you actually try it”

Kevin pauses for a moment. His face showing an internal struggle as though arguing with himself about his next few words “Can you do it?”

“It?” Cas asks. His head tilting slightly.

“Figure skating…uh I mean like proper skating. The jumps and the spins” 

Castiel smiles at the nervous human “Yes actually. I used to love to skate, before heaven was setting up the apocalypse, I had a lot of down time”

Kevin nods his head as though understanding “Yeah, hobbies can get left on the shelf when you’re presented with the worlds end”

Castiel lets out a short laugh “Wise words”

Silence briefly falls over them as they do another lap of the pond.

“I could show you some moves if you’d like” 

Kevin turns his head to the angel, his eyes unintentionally lighting up.

“That’d be awesome” Kevin replies. A grin bursting across his face.

“Right well just watch yourself for a moment, I can’t do anything with this on” Castiel motions to his trench coat and makes for the edge of the pond.

**************************************

Sam chuckles happily to himself as he closes the novel. The book had ended well, all the loose ends tied up, every mystery solved and the good guys had won.

Maybe it was cliché and maybe it was predictable, but the way Sam lived he’d kill for that kind of story.

He groans as he stands and stretches his arms, cracking his back and shoulder muscles. He decides to head to the sitting room. With no one around he could actually watch what he wanted on Netflix.

The bunker is eerily quiet as he walks through the main room and down one of the many hallways.

It seems crazy to Sam, the sort of ‘home’ he has now. It’s not a normal home by any standards but the bunker, his friends, they were all coming together to create something comforting in Sam’s life.

A comfort he’d spent most of his life searching for and craving.

He walks into the sitting room in a bit of a daze, not expecting anyone to be there. 

He doesn’t even register the television is on until he’s walked into the room.

“Hey Samsquatch” Gabriel cheerily greets him. The archangel is lounging on the couch watching some cooking show. He was wearing denim jeans and a hideous Christmas jumper. A white collar was framing the neckline of his jumper, a white shirt hidden beneath the fabric.

“Oh uh Hey Gabriel” Sam replies sitting down on one of the recliners, feeling it would be too awkward if he just turned and walked straight out.

Sam misses the pout that flashes across the Archangel’s face at the use of his full name. Gabriel thought they had been making progress with the whole ‘Gabe’ nickname…apparently not.

“You seem surprised to see me” Gabriel teases, having noticed Sam jump when he’d walked in.

“Yeah, I thought everyone was gone off ice-skating” Sam admits, his eyes not leaving the television.

“What about you? You didn’t go with them?” Gabriel asks surprised. 

Sam shifts slightly in the chair looking uncomfortable. He clears his throat awkwardly before replying.

“No…uh not my thing”

Gabriel raises an eyebrow at the hunter who was still refusing to look at him “Not your thing? I thought you were into all these human winter traditions” 

Sam shrugs his shoulders uneasily, chancing a glance at the angel.

It takes Gabriel a minute but a grin eventually breaks across his face. Much to the dismay of the hunter.

“You can’t skate can you?” Gabriel smirks, swinging his legs onto the ground so he can sit up straight, leaning his elbows on his knees.

Sam squirms uncomfortably in his chair. “No uh- No I can’t actually” He turns his gaze from the trickster back to the TV. He waited for him to burst out laughing, to crack a joke or tease the hunter.

Sam hates this. Hates not being able to do something. It had been a long time since he was comfortable leaving his comfort zone and trying new stuff. He hadn’t tried anything new since-

“C’mon”

Sam looks up in shock. Gabriel’s standing now, his arm outstretched. A gentle smile on his face with only a hint of mischief in his eyes.

“What?” Sam questions, looking warily at Gabriel’s hand.

“C’mon we’re going ice-skating” Gabriel makes a step forward to grab Sam’s shoulder but the hunter hurriedly gets to his feet, putting the recliner between him and the Archangel.

“No. No way. It’s fine” Sam quickly stutters out. His heart racing.

The trickster just grins back at him, raising his hand to snap his fingers.

“GABRIEL DON-” 

Sam’s eyes clench tightly shut as he feels a shiver of grace flow over him. His whole body is tense and his breath is coming out in short huffs. It’s like there’s suddenly a knife swirling around in his lungs and his stomach flips dangerously, threatening to let loose his lunch.

The temperature drops dramatically around Sam and suddenly Sam can feel a scarf choking his neck and a hat shoved down on his head.

The air smells like pine trees and frost and after a couple seconds Sam slowly opens his eyes. His body loosening as he takes in his surroundings.

He’s in the middle of a giant frozen lake. A vast forest spans out around the edges of the lake. Other than that, there’s nothing to see for miles.

“Wh-Where are we?” Sam chokes out. His panic gradually subsiding. 

Gabriel comes into his view as the archangel skates around Sam in a perfect circle. 

“Greenland, somewhere or another.” The angel replies easily. 

Sam nods curtly. He looks down at the skates on his feet and realises he’s frozen. He physically doesn’t know how to move.

Gabriel looks at the hunter with interest as he slowly tries to move one of his feet forward.

Of course, with no experience, Sam’s weight wobbles dangerously straight away and his foot slips from under him.

Before his knees can be acquainted with the frozen floor, Gabriel grabs him.

The Archangel’s hands grip firmly on to Sam’s forearms.

The hunter looks up nervously. His eyes level with the shorter angel as he was still bent forward, mid fall.

Gabriel slowly skates backwards. Dragging the hunter easily after him. As Sam finds his balance, he straightens. He stares down at his feet warily though, as though they’ll betray him.

“You’re such a dick” Sam mutters, his body stiff as he tries to not fall again.

Gabriel smirks at the hunter “Nah a dick would do this” In a flash Gabriel lets Sam go. It only takes the hunter a second to fall flat on his ass.

The hunter lets out a yelp as he falls to the ice before glaring bitterly up at the archangel, who was now howling with laughter.

“Take us home. Now” Sam snaps. 

This was exactly why he didn’t want to go skating…

Gabriel just looks amused as he skates up to hunter. He puts his arm out, presumably to flash them home.

However, when Sam grabs his hand he finds himself being pulled to his feet. 

“Sorry kiddo, I’ll take this seriously” Gabriel winks at him as he once again reverses dragging Sam along with him. 

This time however, Gabriel’s hands are gripping Sam’s hands, engulfing the gloveless skin in warmth.

“Okay now bend your knee’s a little, it’ll help with your balance”

Sam glares at the archangel but listens nonetheless.

“Now try make stroking motions with your foot, pretend you’re wiping your feet on a mat”

Despite the scowl on his face Sam listens diligently to the angel. Slowly he starts to get the hang of the motions.

“Good job” Gabriel comments genuinely. Not used to this tone coming from the Archangel, Sam takes it as sarcasm.

He scoffs in response and loses his concentration long enough to stumble mid stride. Gabriel easily steadies the hunter. The angels face screwed up in frustration. What did he have to do to get this hunter to like him?

Sam grunts as he slips again, his teeth grinding in irritation. 

A shiver runs up the hunter’s spine as the wind picks up around them. He’d soaked the back of his jeans earlier when he’d fallen and the wind was freezing against the wet fabric.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow at Sam’s discomfort, waiting for the hunter to ask him to do something. Get rid of the wind, snap in new jeans or dry the one’s he had on. He was waiting for something, anything. He was an Archangel after all. Instead he was met with the stubborn silence of the hunter, refusing to ask for help.

He rolls his eyes towards Heaven. Humans.

He abruptly stops, steadying the hunter. He lets go of Sam who instantly freezing. Not yet confident to be on the ice without an anchor.

Silently Gabriel slips off his Christmas jumper leaving him in just a white shirt and jeans.  
Sam would be lying if he said he didn’t notice the defined muscles that strained against Gabriel’s shirt how they made Sam-…and yeah Sam was not going to expand that thought…

Gabriel glides forward effortlessly wrapping his arms around Sam. The human noticeably stiffens, his heart rate increasing. 

“What are you-”

“You’re catching a chill” Gabriel interrupts. His hands fumbling slightly as he wraps the jumper around the hunter’s hips, so that the fabric covered the hunter’s ass and the back of his thighs.

Gabriel briefly lifts the hunter’s jacket, wrapping the jumper properly around Sam’s waist. Sam can’t help but flinch at the angel’s cold fingers as they brush across his hips, a particular…sensitive area on the hunter. He manages to contain a chuckle as the angel’s thumb sweeps across the same place as he ties the knot around the front of the Winchester.

Gabriel smirks up at Sam through his eyelashes “Ticklish? Are we Sambo?”

The smile that had gently spread across Sam’s face hardens into a frown.

“Don’t even think about it”

Gabriel just laughs at the hunter’s wary glare. 

The Archangel pushes off the ice, grabbing Sam’s hands and propelling the hunter forward. 

Sam manages to hold his yelp down as his legs shakily make sweeping motions.

“It could be fun you know, my devilish fingers devouring all your sensitive spots” Gabriel winks flirtatiously, an obvious innuendo hidden behind his words. 

Sam internally winces at the thought, a true nightmare. 

“Never” Sam replies resolute. 

“Oh C’mon Sammy. You’re so tense all the time. You need to loosen up!” The Archangel waves his hands briefly for emphasis. Sam struggles to stay balanced before his hands are being firmly gripped again.

“I’m relaxed, just not-” Sam was about to say, just not around you. He manages to catch himself though, reeling in the words. 

Gabriel looks expectantly at him. Wondering what the hell was going on in the hunter’s mind. 

“-Nevermind”

The angel raises his eyebrows at him “What? Got a crush on me or something? Sammy boy?”

Sam looks shocked at first, his cheeks warmly slightly at the idea before he bursts out laughing.

Probably the first time the hunter had properly laughed around the angel, when it was just the two of them.

“Yeah, of course, that must be it” Sam chuckles. His feet now moving faster and steadier on the ice. Gabriel picks up the pace, challenging the hunter.

Gabriel pouts playfully at him “This is so not a laughing matter Whinechester. Courting someone is a very serious task”  
Gabriel can’t help but acknowledge the warmth that was bubbling around in his gut when Sam smiled at him. Or how much the Archangel was working for even the smallest bit of attention from the younger Winchester. But he knew how these things worked. He knew Sam was straight, and well stubborn. On top of that Sam had made is abundantly clear he wasn’t a fan of Gabriel, the signs were pretty obvious. Also Sam clearly had some issues with grace and angelic presence in general so obviously that left Gabriel off the table. Still… just because he couldn’t have something doesn’t… mean he couldn’t play with it…

Sam shakes his head in disbelief at the angel. There’s a moment of silence before Gabriel dramatically clears his throat.

“So…you come here often?”

Sam groans into his shoulder.

“Please don’t-” The hunter pleads

“Are you from Tennessee? Cause you’re the only ten I see” 

“We’re the only people here!” Sam argues a giggle escaping him.

“Hey I lost something…” Gabriel starts, trying to look innocent.

Sam sighs miserably, knowing what comes next.

“Your number”

Sam lets out a groan that turns in to a laugh.

“You’re terrible” He retorts

“Sorry, it’s just you take my breath away”

“You don’t even breathe!” 

They both end up laughing. Sam’s sides beginning to hurt.

“Can you tell me your sign baby?” Gabriel wiggles his eyebrows ridiculously, getting more dramatic with each pick up line.

Sam looks at him for a moment, his mind racing before he answers

“Do not enter”

Gabriel pauses mid stride, bringing them to a stop so he can fully digest Sam’s comeback. Soon he’s in stitches. Laughter coursing through his vessel. Sam is also doubled over. Delirious from the insanity of this entire scene. His insides flurrying around like butterflies as he realises how much fun he is actually having.

An Archangel throwing pickup lines at a human as they teach him how to skate. It was mad. You couldn’t write this shit!

Gabriel eventually pushes off again. Now moving them gently side to side, getting Sam used to changing direction.

“Fine then smartass. If you’re such a genius with the comebacks why don’t you try a pickup line?” Gabriel challenges. An evil glint dances across his eyes and his eyebrows raise playfully.

Sam stares blankly at the trickster for almost a minute. Only the sounds of their skates echoing around the open space. He looks conflicted about something. Before Gabriel can say anything he stares Gabriel determinedly in the eyes, a look of mischief hidden behind his hazel iris’ “Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?”

A wave of disbelief crashes into Gabriel. He’s so shocked that he loses his composure completely and ends up tripping over his own foot. 

The two end up sprawled on the ice. Sam having fallen forward found his face in Gabe’s chest and his body in between the Archangels legs.

Sam lets out a groan, his knees stinging from the contact with the ice.

Gabriel was staring up into Heaven with an earth cracking grin across his face.

“What the hell was that Gabriel” Sam grunts as he lifts his head up.

Sam pushes his chest up, leaning his hands on the ice either side of the angel.

He’s about to complain about the bite of the ice on his palms when he locks eyes with Gabriel. It’s only then does he see the star stuck look on the Archangels face and realise the compromising pose they’re both in.

His mind briefly flashes back to the snow war yesterday and how Gabriel had hovered over him then. 

Sam stares into the bright honeycomb eyes of the trickster, of the Archangel…of Gabriel and the sudden enormity of the being beneath him should have left him trembling. 

But his anxiety, his panic, his uncontrollably fear… all seem to just disappear as the Archangel opens his mouth.

“Well Samsquatch, you really know how to court a guy”

The tension, the mood, the atmosphere all fades away at the quip. Sam mentally shakes his head, the ridiculous thoughts he’d just had crumble away and he chalks it all up to shock.

Before Sam can retort with a smart comeback his phone goes off. The ringtone hushed in the vast silence around them. 

“Welp looks like bro is looking for us, better get back”

Sam doesn’t even have time to panic as Gabriel snaps his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry this took so long! As you may have been able to tell this chapter ended up being twice as long as any of the other chapters so it took longer to get it published! Sorry for the wait and hope you enjoyed <3 Also a shout out to one of my best friends Sarah! She has been helping me flesh out some of the chapters and helping me through writers block! As well as correcting this chapter for me <3


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